This invention relates to integrated optical devices and, more particularly, to such devices utilized as tunable filters and intensity modulators.
Integrated optics is a recently developed technology in which thin-film techniques are applied to the fabrication of miniature compact optical devices. Due to their small size, rugged and reproducible construction and low cost, such devices are attractive candidates for inclusion in high-capacity optical communication systems.
For an overview of the field of integrated optics see, for example, a "Survey of Integrated Optics" by S. E. Miller, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. QE-8, No. 2, February 1972, pp. 199-205.
Considerable effort is being directed at developing integrated-optics versions of the various basic components that are needed in an optical communication system. Integrated optical devices, such as, for example, filters and intensity modulators, are among the important fundamental units that are required to make such a system a practical reality.